Two short operettas, Trial By Jury and The Zoo, are lined up for Matlock G&S Singers' summer show

The choir will present Trial By Jury and The Zoo at The Medway Centre in Bakewell on Friday, June 16 and Saturday, June 17.

Musical director Melanie Gilbert said: “If you don’t know G&S, these two one-act wonders are the ideal introduction. There’s no dull dialogue, they’re fast-paced, funny and full of sing-along moments. We’re even throwing in some Victorian music hall songs and pieces in between. So come along, bring your friends and enjoy a great musical medley.”

Trial by Jury is one of the snappiest operettas by England’s famous musical duo. In it, sulky Angelina drags her cheating fiancé Edwin into court for ‘Breach of Promise of Marriage’. There follows a comic war of dalliance and damages, cocking a snook at the British legal system, with tunes so catchy you’ll be humming them all the way home.

Perhaps inspired by London Zoo, which opened to the public in 1828, The Zoo is a comic gem not so often performed. It’s the story of two pairs of lovers, who meet at the animal attraction. Featuring a suicidal apothecary, an over-eating aristocrat in disguise, a disapproving papa and a tea lady who’s ‘no better than she should be,’ the witty one-act operetta has a gloriously silly story.

The music for The Zoo was composed by Arthur Sullivan. However, the lyrics of The Zoo were not written by his usual musical partner William Gilbert, but a less famous Victorian librettist, Benjamin Stephenson.

After its initial run, The Zoo lapsed into obscurity. It wasn’t rediscovered until 1966, when opera enthusiast Terence Rees bought the score at a Sotheby’s auction, sparking a revival of this forgotten delight. One of the cast members of the Matlock G&S Singers’ show, Max Taylor, remembers being in the audience at its revival!

Performances of The Zoo and Trial By Jury at the Medway Centre on June 16 and 17 will start at 7.30pm.

Tickets cost £12 and are now on sale, tel. Sue on 0780 750 3367, and will also be available at the door.Matlock G&S Singers is the new name for Matlock Gilbert & Sullivan Society which has been performing in and around Matlock for more than 30 years.

The choir rehearses at All Saints Church Hall on Fridays and new members are always welcome. Contact Sue, who chairs the choir, for a chat on 0780 750 3367.